One reason why so many people have trouble being motivated about global warming

Earth's average temperature has gone up a bit over 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit since 1880. 1.4 degrees doesn't seem like that much in well over 100 years, tho much of the change has happened in only the past few decades. The seemingly small 1.4 degrees is part of the reason why it's hard for many people and institutions to mobilize about this reality. 1.4 is a small enough number to be like a rounding error given the day to day, and year to year weather fluctuations in each region. It's kind of like the problem is written in invisible ink.

Still, it is a big problem. Glaciers retreating, rainfall patterns changing, droughts and so forth.

I can see why it's hard for some folks to fathom this. Our lives are fairly short in the face of long term trends. People tend to make up their minds based on personal experience and hunches, rather than long term science. Also we are tribal, for the most part. When we get an opinion and take sides, we tend to support the "home team" and find ourselves reluctant to change. Somehow, tho, society does need to address this reality.

Also, just the 5 degree difference that was happening over a long period of time, more than 10,000 years ago, met that where I am sitting now (Bellingham, WA.) was under 5 thousand feet of ice. I guess it's an understatement to say that would have an effect on our local economy. Even a smaller change over just the next few decades would certainly be problematic.



Source: NASA Earth Observatory.